


New Strangers....Very, Very Weird Strangers

by dtbookworm



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games), Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Ellie an Dina being cute, Ellie being skeptical of the nerds, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Poor unfortunate Chris, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:15:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28089123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dtbookworm/pseuds/dtbookworm
Summary: Dina informs Ellie that someone's caught in one of Jackson's traps used for hunting. Ellie expects a rabbit or a moose or a stray deer. Only...only what she stumbles on is two boys and one girl that are really, really, weird. But in the best possible way.
Relationships: Ashley Brown & Chris Hartley, Ashley Brown & Chris Hartley & Josh Washington, Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	New Strangers....Very, Very Weird Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my 1st collaboration of Until Dawn and The Last of Us! Enjoy!

"Dina. Can you _please_ just tell me what's up? Because you're _never_ at a loss for words. I was in the middle of a comic. On my day off. So I'd appreciate it if you, you know, cut the whole mystical, adventurous front and tell me exactly what the hell it is you want me to see."

When Shimmer whinnied and jumped over a small creak, Ellie held Dina's waist tighter and let out an _Oh shit_ while Dina only laughed and snorted. Who knew that simply touching this girl in a non sexual, best friend-ish way could arise so many feelings in her stomach. It felt like there were blue monarch butterflies in there flapping their wings against one another, creating tiny sparks that made her fingertips and the tips of her ears feel warm and toasty. God, she felt like a sap.

"Ells," Dina sighed, "when will you learn that life is not some one way streak. It is a myriad of rivers and we, as individuals, as people, as fleeting human beings only get to choose so many to travel down. Why question when you can simply...ride the wave?" With her free hand, she fluttered her fingers.

"Oh God, here we go. More philosophical bullcrap? You know, if I wanted to hear you preach I'd go to church." Ellie suddenly remembered that Dina herself was Jewish and her cheeks immediately emblazoned red. Religion and her didn't exactly blend together nicely to make a smoothie. "I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that. Totally cool with that. If that's there your thing, then preach away oh wise one."

The back of Dina's hair, dark as a midnight sky, tickled Ellie's nose. When she turned her head slightly to the left, Ellie could see that Dina was smirking. "I will. And I caught how you backpedaled by the way. I appreciate it, but lighten up, would ya? Now you know about those traps just up the hill from Jackson in the forest. The ones we set last week?"

"Oh yeah. Did we catch something worthwhile? Maybe a buffalo? Wait... _did_ we catch a buffalo? Oh, that would be so cool. Venison for days beyotch!" Ellie pump her fist in the air. Her chest swelled with pride she envisioned the smiles from Maria an Tommy and Joel. Ellie Williams-provider, protector, and the only girl to pull off Chucks.

"Ok. Two things. One: buffalo are no where _near_ Jackson."

"Says you," Ellie mumbled childishly. "Like you know everything."

"And two: venison is usually made of deer or elk. Not buffalo." Dina gave the reigns a tug, making Shimmer trot a little faster. "And three...actually, there is no three. Just those two."

Ellie groaned and tilted her head to the azure sky. It was endless parachute of blue with only a few streaks of clouds. "So what then? Oh God, did infected get into the traps? Was it a Bloater? Or a Stalker. Or...ugh, a Schambler?"

"Actually, yeah." Dina's tone made Ellie cluck her tongue for it was doused in sarcasm. "A big Schambler with _so_ many twitchy eyes."

"Ew, stop, I'm getting itchy."

"Oh, that's not all. I actually hit it like it was a piñata and when it exploded, some of it got into my mouth. Now I taste eyeball juice and eye crust."

Ellie put her hand to her mouth and pretended-although the thought of it really _did_ disgust her- to gag. "Oh God, here comes my lunch. When I throw up on your back, don't start crying."

"Looking forward to it my dear. Hold on, just around the bend. "

Ellie and Dina rode into the forest under the canopy of green sycamore leaves. Sweet tea colored light poured through the leaves, making the fallen leaves and foliage glow like embers from a wildfire. Ellie breathed in the spicy aroma of it all and placed her cheek against Dina's backside. The steady bouncing of Shimmer and the tantalizing sunlight made her close her eyes. She might as well have been on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Eternity isn't something that's stuck well with Ellie. People around her have died and in a way she felt like it was her fault. Here she was, immune and living and alive riding with a badass chick who was sweet and brash all at once, and meanwhile others were in the ground or stumbling around craving flesh and human blood. 

Ellie wouldn't mind just being in an everlasting loop like this, just riding, riding, riding, until the horizon swallowed her whole.

So it startled her when Dina spoke up. "Hey! We're here!"

Opening her eyes, Ellie looked to see what on Earth Dina was talking about. And the sight was...well...something straight out of a Scooby Doo episode. A blonde faux haired man was hanging, literally _hanging_ upside down, his foot ensnared in a rope trap that she had expertly put together. At the base of the tree, a strong jawed boy and an auburn haired girl stood. The girl was the very definition of worried _and_ annoyed if that was possibly, pacing back and forth were arms crossed tightly across her chest. The man however? He just leaned against the tree as if everything was peaches and cream.

"Oh, good she's back," the red haired girl said. She punched the boy beside her lightly on the shoulder. "See? I told you we could trust her."

The green eyed man next to her patted her head as if she was a Labradooddle. "Oh, Ashley, my sweet naive grammar correcting girl. You'll trust anyone who's nice to you. That's gonna get you killed if you ask me."

"Oh? Well then maybe I should reconsider my trust in you then since _you're_ the one who led us into that group of Runners, Josh."

Josh held up his finger like an overbearing professor correcting a student. "Uh. Correction. Blending in with the Runners would've worked if Laura Croft up there's alarm clock hadn't gone off on his phone. I keep telling ya to put that shit on silence, Cochise."

Up above, Cochise-that was weird name-huffed. "Yeah. And I suppose it's my fault that I'm up here right?"

"Of course not," Ashley said, her voice growing softer.

"Meh," Josh replied.

The three began to squabble. Ellie and Dina mounted off of Shimmer and approached them. Dina only smirked at Ellie, gesturing her hand to the trio. "See what I mean?"

Ellie nodded, still eyeing the oddball group of...friends? Or siblings? It was hard to tell. "Yeah. This. This is something." She cleared her throat, opting to make as much noise as possible to have the three stop. "Uh, hey? Mind telling us who you guys are?"

The first to approach was Ashley, her hand outstretched for a greeting. "Hi. I'm Ashley. Ashley Brown. You?"

"Ellie." Ellie looked into the doe eyed girl's eyes. They were kind and curious, the kind of eyes that held knowledge beyond her years. "And you already met Dina I suppose."

"Yep. It was nice of you to get help by the way," the red haired girl said, rubbing her bare arms. The white tank top she was wearing was smeared with dirt and sweat.

"No problem," Dina said, putting her hands on her hips. "Glad we could be of assistance."

Ellie walked closer to the man who was leaning against the tree. "And you?" Something was _off_ about him. He seemed harmless on the outside, but what kind of person just stood as cool as a sea cucumber while a person in his group was hanging upside down from freakin' tree? 

"Josh Washington. Pleasure." A grin crossed his face and it took all of Ellie's strength to sock him straight in the jaw. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages, the red stain now dry. "Nice tats."

"Thanks." Ellie looked up through the canopy of leaves and pointed at the man _still_ hanging upside down. "An uh...what about him?"

The man was turning considerably red in the face. "I'm Chris. Chris Hartley. Ugh, I'm getting dizzy. Mind cutting me down now?"

Ellie's defenses shot up in an instant. She had to remember that these strangers-no matter how dysfunctional and somewhat clueless-were still strangers. "Chris? I heard your name was Cochise."

"Uh, no. No, it's a, uh, nickname. My real name's Chris. Honest." Chris made a Cross My Heart gesture only to give up alway through. 

"Where you guys from?" Dina asked, trying to stifle her laughter at Chris reddening.

"Up North," Ashley answered. "It's our turn to go scavenging and so far nothing."

Ellie crossed her arms. On the inside of her shirt was her trusty switchblade. No way was she letting her guard down. Yet. "And how exactly did Chris end up in our traps. They were made specifically for Runners."

"Yeah," Dina said, rubbing sweat from her forehead. "I mean, we're pretty badass when it comes to being inconspicous, but I didn't think the trap would catch a real life _human_."

Ellie watched Josh and Ashley exchange a glance, then both simultaneously looked up at Chris-still dangling by the way. The sun was on its way to descending and it bathed the sky in hues of gold an fire. The heat was diminishing and Ellie relaxed a little bit more. She looked to Dina and she was just...just...wow. She wore the sunset as if she was a sun goddess. A memory came to Ellie. Of her and Dina hanging out at the synagogue a little ways away. Dina stood at the pulpit, making Ellie laugh with her impression of a Holier Than Though Catholic Priest. Under the stained glass windows, Dina looked as if she was composed of every color on the spectrum, making Ellie's heart beat at full capacity.

"Well, that's a funny story," Josh said, breaking Ellie's train of thought. "Ashley? Would you care to enlighten these ladies?"

Ashley sighed, scratching the top of her head. Who the hell wore a beanie in July? "Ok. So not long ago we were running from the Dad Bods when..."

"Wait, wait, wait," Ellie said, making a time out gesture with her hands. She looked to Dina to see if she knew the term, but she was just as stumped as she was. "What the hell are Dad Bods?"

Josh chimed in, "Those big scaly fuckers with all those eyes. Nasty, yet compelling."

Ellie wrapped her head around the types of infected when it dawned on her. "Do you mean...do you mean Schamblers?"

"The what?" Chris called from above, albeit faintly.

"We call them Schamblers." Dina scoffed and shook her head. "Dad Bods though?"

"Yeah," Josh said, hitching his thumb upwards. "Those things kind of have dad bods and Chris up there is splitting image."

Dina clicked her tongue and nodded thoughtfully. "You know what? That _actually_ makes sense. I can get behind that."

"Right?"

"Really Dina?" Ellie asked, losing all faith in her friend. "Don't encourage him."

"Yeah," Ashely sighed. "Please...please don't."

"You know, I _can_ hear you." Up above, Chris shot Josh a middle finger.

"Dude, it's ok. Ash loves dad bods so you're Gucci."

"Can you idiots stop it!" Ashley silenced them the way a nanny would silence the naughty children. "Jesus. I haven't even _started_ to tell the story. So anyways, we're running from the Schamblers when we spotted that city in the distance. All twinkling and pulsating. Really pretty." She pointed to Jackson which was now twinkling with lantern and fairly lights. "So we thought we could stop by and maybe see if we could trade something for food, you know? And Chris wanted to be cautious, he said he wanted to get an aerial view of the town."

"And that didn't turn out as planned obvi," Josh snickered.

"We stopped here to catch our breaths and Chris...well..."

"Got caught up the tree like a child being snatched up by the supposed Ice Cream man," Josh finished. "And that's our tale."

Ellie looked at the three young adults and considered the three of them. Ashley? Definitely trust worthy. And it took a closer look to see that there were multiple books in the bag she was wearing. Chris? Funny-well funny as a grandpa in the 40s-but cool. Josh? She was still on the fence about him.

"So?" Dina asked. "what do you think? Cut him down?"

Ellie looked up at Chris who's arms were dangling limply. She looked to Ashley. Something about the way the red head looked at the boy with glasses indicated that there was indeed a big time crush going on. More out of pity than consideration, Ellie sighed. "Alright. Alright. We'll get him down. Hang tight!"

The rope was attached to a decrepit engine motor. Ellie knelt, brought out her switchblade, and with one swift notion, cut the rope. "Stand clear!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Chris began, but too late.

The rope snapped.

Chris fell and hit every visible branch on the way down, letting out an _ow!_ and a _oof!_ and an occasional _gah!_ He landed with a thud on his back. Dina turned away, but Ellie knew that she was laughing. Ashley covered her eyes and Josh, unlike Dina, didn't even _try_ to hide his hysterics for he was doubled over, hands on his knees, laughing.

When Chris landed on his back with a thud, Ellie, Dina, and the other two strangers circled around him. "Chris?" Ashley said, shaking his shoulder lightly. "You ok? Say something?"

Chris groaned and Ellie feared that he truly was hurt. He opened his eyes and mumbled, "Yep. You guys must be bad at hangman, huh?"

Ellie snorted and stopped herself. Maybe she could learn a few more jokes from this guy. "C'mon. On your feet." She pulled him up. "You know what? Forget the exchange. Why don't you guys stay for the night?"

"Yeah," Dina agreed, wiping her eyes. "It would be an honor."

"Are you sure?" Ashley said, straightening Chris's glasses. "We don't want to be a bother."

"We insist." Dina sidled up next to Ashley. "And maybe during your stay you can tell me what hair dye you use because that's pretty bitchin'.

"Oh. Thanks." The girl stroked her hair self consciously. Obviously she wasn't used to compliments. "But, it's actually natural."

"Wha-oh fuck yeah. Even better."

Ellie remembered Shimmer who was whinnying, signaling they should get going. "Hey, any of you guy want to ride Shimmer? There's enough space for two people." Ellie gave Ashley a look over. The girl was _tiny_ compared to the guys. "Maybe three."

"Thanks for the hospitality." Josh looked at the horse while stroking his chin. "Ash you love animals. And Chris? You took a pretty nasty fall there, bud. Why don't you to ride together? Take a joy ride."

The air suddenly became unbearable as Ellie watched Chris and Ashley look at each other like high school freshmen at a school dance. Yeah. Major unrequited love right there. "Uh. Yeah. Sure," Chris said. "Comfortable with that?"

"Oh, yeah, totally, for sure," Ashley nodded a little too vigorously. "Yeah."

Dina showed Chris how to guide Shimmer while Ashley wrapped his arms around his waist. She buried her cheek against his backside and Ellie could see the look of longing on her face. Her heart reached out to her. After the instructions were given, the two disappeared down the hill. "Man. Those two want to bone so badly," Dina said with ease. "They always do that awkward little dance?"

"Al-fucking-ways. All apart of my plan," Josh said proudly. Placing himself between the two girls, he wrapped his arms over their necks as if they were old time war buddies. "So. Ladies. Considering that you two helped us out I want to return the favor."

Ellie and Dina looked at each other, leaning forward to do so. "And what's that?" Ellie tried to peel his fingers away, but to no avail.

"Well. Those two schmucks that I'm with are fun to be with. However. Believe it or not, I'm a little weary of spending the night in a new place. So. I will gladly sleep up there in the tree, lying under the stars if you don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Dina asked, her voice taking on the tone of a mother. "We have plenty of room."

"And food," Ellie added. She watched as just ascended the tree, grabbing the intact branches that Chris didn't hit on the way down. "Well, what do you want us to tell your friends?"

Josh let out a long _Hmmmmm_ and then sat, "Tell them I got mauled by runners and my intestines are draped across the ground like fairly lights."

And then he was silent. Josh watched the now dark sky with longing, as if he was trying to push past the million pinpricks of light to see something greater. It occurred to Ellie what kin dof people the group may have lost. What did Josh lose? What was his story?

Ellie and Dina proceeded to walk down the hill slowly, the cicadas creating a soporific chorus. "What do you make of those guys?" Ellie asked.

"Mmm. They seem harmless. I think we can trust them."

Trust. If there was ever a word that was foreign to Ellie it was that. "Ok. I guess we can put up with them for one night."

"You know, I'm really considering calling Schamblers Dad Bods now."

"Oh Lord."

"No think about, think about it." Dina's ponytail swished back and forth in the moonlight.

Ellie smiled, stuffing her hands in her commando jacket. "I _am_ thinking about it. Just know, on this very day, I have lost all faith in you. I hope you know that."

They walked towards Jackson, lit up with fairly lights and lanterns and fire places. People looked small in the distance, carrying firewood and guiding horses to their stables. Children were running around, probably not yet wanting to go to bed. The heat radiating off the city made Ellie feel warm inside and it didn't hurt that Dina was here with her, enjoying the evening light.

"Think this what apart of Josh's plan?" Dina inquired. 

"What? To have us walk back to Jackson?"

"No, dummy. To give _us_ time alone." 

Dina's smile was radiant even in the dark. The stars themselves probably grew jealous which was maybe why they quivered.

"Maybe," Ellie admitted. "Is that ok with you?" Bravely, letting her emotions run loose like horses in the pastures, she grabbed her partner's hand.

"Yeah." Dina stroked the web between Ellie's thumb and forefinger. "You?"

Ellie smiled despite herself. "Yeah. This is....wait a minute. Wait a damn minute."

"What?" Dina asked worriedly. "What's wrong."

"You _do_ realize that Josh could've climbed up the tree and cut Chris down at any time while you were coming to get me, right?'

Silence ensued and the two burst out laughing. "Wanna make Chris mad?"

Ellie licked the top row of her teeth and considered this proposition. "Oh fuck yeah."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you haven't already, check out my Little Hope stories as well as my Until Dawn story in progress, "A Dork In Shining Armor."


End file.
